And perhaps it was only wishful thinking, but the ache that had settled down into my bones seemed to have eased since we'd arrived in the neighborhood. Maybe I was closer to Sunny. Maybe she was around the corner. We could bump into one another in the elfin produce market—they always saved the best of their crops for their own markets—and I would have her against the wall in the alley before she could say hello with that bright blush on her cheeks.

I blinked and then remembered that Sunny wouldn't have signed half a dozen consent forms up front.

Fine, then. She could say hello. And then as I set her basket under the radish bin and took her hand, she could tell me how much she missed my mouth on hers. Or my stav stroking her sweet, wet pussy. And then that hand that held hers would cover her mouth to muffle her cries of relief as I fucked her in the little hidden nook between the market and the florist. I'd clean her pussy with my mouth when we'd both come—her twice—so she wouldn't be embarrassed to return to the market long enough for me to buy our groceries, and then over to the florist for her to pick out the flowers she wanted on the table. The table I would bend her over after dinner, the flowers we would accidentally knock over—

"Khell!"

I sat up straight and winced at the stiff throb of my groin and the dull pound of my balls as I shifted.

"You looked like you were about to drill a hole in that tree, if you know what I mean," Rafe said, raising one of the Styrofoam cups to his lips, an obnoxious slurping sound replacing the memories of Sunny's bright cries of pleasure.

"If I'd known you were going to be this much of a pain in the ass, I would've done the work of moving by myself," I muttered, but without any real heat.

Rafe laughed. "I just saved you from public indecency, probably, so you're welcome for that, and for the help moving too. Want me to drop the truck back off?"

I looked at the debris Rafe had scattered over the porch, empty cardboard buckets from the fries and the wrappers from the hot dogs bunched into wads, like the heads of white flowers dropped decoratively around us. I could leave Rafe to the truck, settle into my new apartment for the night.

But it would be as Sunny-less as the last apartment, and at least taking care of the truck was something to do.

"No, let's clean up and I'll go," I said, adding a muttered, "Thanks."